After Senate’s Amendments, New Hampshire’s Sports Betting Bill Heads Back to House

While many predicted that New Hampshire would legalize sports betting by the end of May, it seems that it will wait for the Governor’s signature a little bit longer.

Bill HB480 was amended, and it’s now up to the House of Representatives to look it over and decide whether or not to it along.

The focus of the legislation is the regulation of sports betting in person, online and via mobile devices. It has been discussed and amended in the Senate on a number of occasions in recent weeks.

Just last week, the Senate Finance Committee granted Bill HB480 an ‘ought to with amendment’ recommendation based on several amendments. The Senate has now approved those amendments, and also…

…the new changes tabled by Senator, Bob Giuda.

The Newest Amendments

Senator Guida recently implemented the following measures to be considered by HB480:

• Capping the number of mobile operators that would be permitted in the state to a maximum of five.
• Reiterating that the New Hampshire Lottery Commission would be able to choose multiple online operators to offer sports betting.
• Clarification that the Commission would award licenses to operator bids that “provide the state with the highest percentage of revenue” from sports wagering.
• The Commission would also have the ability to set daily, weekly and monthly wager limits on mobile operators in order to help curb gambling addiction.
• In relation to mobile betting, the amended bill clearly states that mobile bets can only be placed and processed in New Hampshire and not “intentionally routed outside of the state.”

Some Things Still Unclear

While it seems that the New Hampshire bill is just a step away from the signature of Governor Chris Sununu…

…there are still some things left to be explained.

For instance, despite the latest round of amendments, there isn’t any clarification regarding how much the licenses will cost in NH, nor the level of tax for the operators. This leaves rooms for more amendments and more delays.

Because the Senate made changes to the House bill, amended legislation requires approval from its originating chamber. Meaning that before the bill comes up on the floor, it needs seven days advance notice on the House calendar. According to this rule, it is likely that two weeks will after Senate age for the House to act.

The House of Representatives will make a recommendation on whether to concur with the Senate changes.

Given the nature of these amendments, concurrence is expected. Also, there is $10 million from sports betting in the NH budget approved by the House and Governor, so clearing of this bill should go without issues.

“I do anticipate that the House will concur with the Senate changes. I think either way it will . If it goes to a committee of conference, I expect they will work it out.

But I honestly believe we will concur on the House floor and be done,” said author of the HB480 bill, Rep. Timothy Lang.

Should the House clear the bill and send it to the Governor for g, it will be turned into law…

… legal sports betting in the state should start in the beginning of July, 2020.

Source:

“New Hampshire bill heads back to House with Senate amendments”, igamingbusiness.com, May 31, 2019.